By Andrew Cato, ShowMe Times Sports Editor

Basketball fans at the Bearcat Event Center witnesses a showdown between two state-ranked teams on Tuesday night: the No. 7 Meadow Heights Lady Panthers and No. 4 Dexter Lady Bearcats. The Lady 'Cats were on a 14 game win streak heading into the contest, but the Panthers used excellent shooting to down the Lady 'Cats on their home floor with a 71-56 final.

Erin Bollman and Whitney Welker combined for 53 of the Panthers points, and wreaked havoc on the Lady 'Cats in the full-court press.

"Bollman and the Welker girl, they're both seniors and they have a lot of experience, and it showed tonight," LBB head coach Chad Allen said after the game. "Both those girls took over and had excellent games for them."

"Meadow Heights definitely have a good team, and they're well-coached," Allen continued. "We came out tonight a little flat-footed, and weren't very active."

Allison Jarrell knocked down a three at the 6:35 mark for LBB's first points of the contest, but a three point play from Bollman gave the Panthers a 7-3 lead. The Lady 'Cats struggled against Meadow Heights' press throughout the contest, and committed several turnovers in the first quarter. Jarrell would knock down three more treys, and Mollie Whitehead added her first of the game, but LBB trailed 25-19 after the first.

Taylor Cureton knocked down a three early in the second, but Dexter's defense was able to limit the Panthers to just nine points in the second quarter. Paige Patterson dropped in four points to help the 'Cats to cut the Panther lead to 34-31 heading into halftime.

An offensive board and stickback from Brittany Harris gave the Lady 'Cats their first lead of the contest less than a minute into the second half, but a 12 point effort from Bollman in the third gave the Panthers a 10 point advantage at the end of the third.

Katelynn Frazier came up with a steal and layup early in the fourth to put the 'Cats down by eight, but the Panthers responded with a 7-0 run. Whitehead knocked down another trey midway through the frame, but no matter what the 'Cats did, the Panthers were able to maintain at least a 10 point lead.

Harris fouled out at the 3:00 mark, but Jarrell knocked down her fifth three of the game on the next possession. Cureton was able to pick off back-to-back inbounds passes by the Lady 'Cats for three quick points, and the Panthers rode out the clock for a 71-56 victory.

"I thought overall we didn't play aggressively tonight. We looked a little timid, and I know the girls can play better than that," Allen said. "The girls will learn from this and we'll get better."

"Our guards didn't get their heads up, and they did a great job of keeping us from getting the ball in the paint. We just didn't get our heads up to look for the open man inside," he continued. "I thought we should have got in there more. [Meadow Heights] definitely executed offensively and defensively tonight."

The Lady 'Cats fall to 17-3 on the season with the loss, and will be back in action on Thursday night when they face Kelly on the road. The contest will be a triple-header, featuring the Freshman Boys at 5:00, followed by the JV and Varsity girls.

Editor's Note: Paige Patterson cleaned up the boards all night, and netted a double-double with 10 points and 13 boards in the contest.

By Andrew Cato, ShowMe Times Sports Editor

DONIPHAN - When the Lady Bearcats and Doniphan Donettes met in the Lady Royals Christmas Classic, LBB emerged with a 56-point victory. On Monday night on their home floor, the Donettes put up a better fight, but ultimately fell 79-30 to the Lady 'Cats.

"I thought we played one of the best halves we've played all year in the first half; we did a really good job defensively, and offensively we really pushed the ball and got a lot of points in transition," LBB head coach Chad Allen said after the game. "We got a lot of points off turnovers, and I thought the girls did a really good job of being prepared for this game."

The Donettes were without the services of their starting point guard, Megan Hipps, due to injury, and Allen noted that as a key to the game.

"I told them yesterday that Hipps would be out, so we knew [that] coming in. Doniphan definitely has a rich tradition here in girls basketball, and they always put a good group on the floor," he commented. "You could tell early that without their starting point guard they were hurting, and we took advantage of that tonight."

The Lady 'Cats jumped out to a quick 8-1 lead after an offensive rebound and stickback from Paige Patterson. LBB's press was incredibly effective against the Donettes, and a late bucket from Sindra Morhman was Doniphan's only field goal of the first quarter. A three point play from Brittany Harris in the last minute, coupled with five rebounds in the first quarter, gave the 'Cats a 28-6 lead.

Allison Jarrell knocked down two threes early in the second quarter for the 'Cats to open up a 12-0 run. Raven Sturgeon hit a pair of free throws for the Donettes to kill the run, but LBB still put together a 49-12 lead heading into halftime.

Harris's two offensive boards in the first 90 seconds of the second half put her in double-double territory. Micah Smith knocked down a trey to spark the Donettes' best offensive quarter of the night, where they scored more points than they did in the entire first half, but Erica Cobb's 11 point effort in the third preserved the Bearcats' lead.

With a 73-28 lead heading into the fourth, the Lady 'Cats kept a running clock throughout the frame. Mollie Whitehead knocked down the only field goal of the quarter at the 3:35 mark, and good free throw shooting pushed 'Cats to a 79-30 decision.

"We started having a letdown in the third quarter," Allen said. "We let them score 12 points in the first half, and then they turn around and score 16 in the third quarter."

In JV action, the Lady 'Cats were led to a 18-12 decision by Taylor Owens' nine point effort in a two-quarter contest.

The Lady 'Cats return to action for a rare late-season home game against Meadow Heights; the game should prove to be more competitive than LBB's recent contests, as the Lady Panthers are currently ranked No. 6 in Class 2.

"We've got a big game tomorrow night," Allen said. "I believe Meadow Heights is number six in Class 2; they're one of the better teams in the area, and it should be a tough ballgame."

"We haven't had any close games in a while, so hopefully our girls will be ready to come in and play the way we have the second half of our season," Allen continued. "They need to come in and be aggressive; we'll have to play well tomorrow night."

The JV squad will get things underway on Tuesday with a two-quarter contest, set to tip at 6:00 p.m. from the Bearcat Event Center.

By Andrew Cato, ShowMe Times Sports Editor

CREVE COEUR - The Dexter Bearcat Wrestling team continued its winning ways on Saturday in the Priory Invitational Tournament. The 'Cats placed first overall in the 12-team field.

Dexter was down by 30 points with two rounds left in the tournament, but the 'Cats racked up 20 wins and two losses in the last two rounds to secure a victory with 333 total points.

The 'Cats had seven wrestlers finish first in their weight classes - seniors Zach Lacy (220 lbs.), Cody Stevens (160 lbs.), and Cole Dean (132 lbs.); juniors Brad Wick (170 lbs.) and Logan Quertermous (182 lbs.); and underclassmen Trevor Waldner (126 lbs.) and Dylan Bazarian (152 lbs.) all brought home gold for DHS.

"We were able to get some good common matches which will help us get a good seed in the district tournament in two weeks," DHS Wrestling coach Rich Schwab said.

The 'Cats will be in action again on Tuesday, when they head to Sikeston for a double-duel with the Bulldogs and NMCC.

Photo above: The Bearcats show off their first place trophy at the conlcusion of the Priory Invitational Tournament. Thanks to Bearcat Mom Kim Waldner for the photo.

POPLAR BLUFF - Three Rivers coach Jeff Walk did not have to look hard to find reasons for his Lady Raiders suffering a 70-56 Region XVI loss to the Moberly Lady Greyhounds Saturday night at the Bess Activity Center.

“We need to finish around the basket better,” Walk said. “We cannot win games shooting 29 percent inside the 3-point line. We need to get to the free-throw line more than 19 times.”

An off night on the glass didn’t help either.

“With all the bigs that we play, we need to win the war on the boards,” said Walk.

The Lady Raiders (8-12, 1-3 XVI) trailed just 58-56 after Brooke Godsey hit a free throw with 2:55 remaining, but did not score again as Moberly closed the game on a 12-0 run.

Earlier in the game, the Lady Greyhounds raced out to a 15-6 lead on Morgan Vetter’s 3-pointer with 13:16 left in the first half before Three Rivers rallied to eventually tie the game at 22 on Godsey’s basket with 3:33 left in the opening session.

However, Moberly regained the lead five seconds later on Tahsha Mitchell’s bucket and led 29-27 at the break.

Abbie Warren’s bucket two minutes into the second half for Three Rivers tied the game once again at 32, but the Lady Greyhounds answered with a 6-0 run and never trailed again.

Moberly extended its lead to 52-41 on Kayla Washington’s basket with a little over eight minutes to go, but the Lady Raiders rallied one last time, getting the deficit down to two points on Godsey’s free throw with 2:55 remaining.

Whitney Mills led Three Rivers with 10 points.

Ashley Stevenson paced the Lady Greyhounds with 14 points, while Jessica Bygate added 13, Mykel Boyd chipped in 12 and ShanToria Taylor finished with 11.

The Lady Raiders are back in action Wednesday when they host Jefferson in another Region XVI contest. Tipoff time is set for 6 p.m. at the Bess Activity Center.

For more information on everything Three Rivers Athletics, make sure to visit RaidersAthletics.com.

EASTON, Pa. - American grinded out a 69-61 victory over Lafayette on Saturday at Kirby Sports Center. The Eagles were paced by Charles Hinkle's game-high 23 points and 52 percent shooting from the field.

Three Lafayette players scored in double figures, led by Rob Delaney's 12 and 11 apiece from Ryan Willen and Dan Trist.

The Leopards opened the game by scoring nine of the first 12 points and lead by six at the first media timeout. Jim Mower knocked down a corner three off a feed from Tony Johnson, the first of his seven assists, to open the game and Trist scored two baskets inside to give Lafayette (9-13, 4-3) the early advantage.

Johnson's drive and left handed layup gave Lafayette an 18-11 lead, its largest of the half, at 9:37. American (14-8, 5-2) countered with a 13-5 spurt to take its first lead of the afternoon at 24-23 on Daniel Munoz's three from the top of the key.

Charles Hinkle's third three of the half put American ahead 35-28 with less than a minute to play and the visitors took that lead into the locker room.

Lafayette used a 10-2 run to take a 39-37 lead to start the second half. Johnson's one handed overhand pass found a cutting Willen, who was fouled and hit two free throws to pull Lafayette within one (35-34) less than 90 seconds into the half. A bucket put American back up by three, but Delaney connected on a wing trey to tie the score at 37 before Mower's baseline jumper capped the run with 16:55 showing.

Delaney's right handed layup put Lafayette ahead 44-43 at 14:28 prior to American scoring 12 straight points, the last five on a pair of Hinkle jumpers, forcing a Lafayette timeout with 9:36 to play.

Following two from Willen at the charity stripe, Lafayette scored seven of the next nine points to make it a five-point game with 6:21 left after Delaney's transition three.

Trailing 60-53, Willen kicked the ball out to the corner to a wide open Levi Giese, who drained the three and made it a four-point game with 5:22 to play. Lafayette once again went down four (65-61) after Johnson stripped Munoz in the backcourt and hit one of two at the line with 54 seconds to play.

The Leopards forced a jump ball and took possession with 27 seconds on the clock but Mower misfired on a three with 17 seconds to go and American hit four free throws to close out the game.

Lafayette returns to action when it hosts Navy on Saturday Feb. 4 at 1 p.m.

Notes:

Dan Trist has scored in double figures in three consecutive games.

Lafayette is now 1-9 this season when an opponent shoots better than 50 percent from the field.

The Lafayette and American coaching staffs participated in the Coaches vs. Cancer Suits and Sneakers awareness weekend, a collaborative initiative of the American Cancer Society and the National Association of Basketball Coaches (NABC).

For a full breakdown of the game's stats, click here.